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Stoney Pronunciation and Spelling Guide

The following charts show the pronunciation for the Stoney spellings we have used on our site, as well as some alternate spellings that you may find in other books and websites. You may also like to visit our Siouan homepage to see how Stoney relates to other languages from the Siouan language family.

˜Vowels

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
a		a	Like the a in father.
e		e	Like the e sound in Spanish, similar to the a in English gate.
i		i	Like the i in police.
o		o	Like the o in note.
u		u	Like the u in flute.

˜Nasal Vowels

Nasal vowels don't exist in English, but you may be familiar with them from French (or from hearing people speak English with a French accent.) They are pronounced just like oral ("regular") vowels, only using your nose as well as your mouth. To English speakers, a nasal vowel often sounds like a vowel with a half-pronounced "n" at the end of it. You can hear examples of nasal vowels at the end of the French words "bon" and "Jean," or in the middle of the word "Français."

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:
â	ą, aⁿ, an, aη, aN	ã
î	į, iⁿ, in, iη, iN	ĩ
û	ų, uⁿ, oⁿ, un, uη, uN	ũ

˜Consonants

Character We Use:	Sometimes Also Used:	IPA symbol:	How To Pronounce It:
b		b	Like b in bill.
c	ch, č	t	Like ch in chair.
d		d	Like d in English die.
g		g	Like g in gate.
h		h	Like h in hay.
j		d	Like j in jar.
k	kh,	k^h	Like k in key.
m		m	Like m in English moon.
n		n	Like n in English night.
p	ph,	p^h	Like p in pin.
r	rh,		Pharyngeal sound that doesn't exist in English. It sounds a little like a gargle to English speakers. This is the same sound beginning Arabic words such as Abdullah.
s	th	θ ~ s	Like th in thing or s in sell, depending on dialect.
sh	s, š	s ~	Like s in sell or sh in shell, depending on dialect.
t	th,	t^h	Like t in tie.
w		w	Like w in way.
x	rh,		Pharyngeal sound that doesn't exist in English. It resembles a "choked" sounding h, like the Arabic h in the word Muhammed.
y		j	Like y in yes.
z	th	~ z	Like th in this or z in zoo, depending on dialect.
zh	z, ž	z ~	Like z in zoo or ge in garage, depending on dialect.
’	?		A pause sound, like the one in the middle of the word "uh-oh."

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